CU-Boulder wins 2007 Presidential Award as one of the three best universities in the nation in General Community Service. For more information click here

Program Overview

The education of students to be responsible citizens within our society constitutes a key part of the University of Colorado's educational mission. Because our democracy requires citizens who have a sense of civic responsibility, the University of Colorado as well as other educational institutions must embrace this educational role. For this reason, we aspire to prepare citizens who have ethical standards and are civically engaged, as well as to graduate professionally competent workers who can contribute to the economic well being of our society.

The development of civic responsibility within students necessarily requires ethical and civic learning. The issues a civically engaged citizen must address involve strong ethical themes--issues which can and often do generate passionate disagreements: the proper use of natural resources; the nature and degree of negative environmental consequences we are willing to accept in order to sustain our desired life styles; the degree to which we as a society should guarantee individual access to housing, higher education and medical care; the manner in which we operate our governments which try to accommodate often conflicting demands; safety versus individual freedom, for example. We want our students to be leaders in actively participating in efforts to deal with these issues and to do so from a strong base of knowledge, understanding and personal integrity. The University of Colorado at Boulder is positioned to provide this ethical and civic education.

In addition to more fully engaging the curricular and co-curricular offerings in the ethical and civic development of our students, the campus needs to have a cadre of students who embody the values and behaviors of an ethically and civically responsible citizenry. The Puksta Scholars will be this cadre of student leaders. For these students, the campus and communities are laboratories for learning and practicing socially responsible behavior. These students serve as a catalyst for bringing about positive change in the campus culture and in the local communities, while acquiring the knowledge, skills, attitudes, and experiences necessary for responsible citizenship upon graduation. What they experience and practice in their classes, in their residence halls, in their student organizations, volunteering in a homeless shelter, in bridging disparate groups, and/or in teaching underprivileged youth will be encouraged and supported by faculty and staff who serve as their mentors and instructors. The ethical and societal issues with which they grapple in their courses or in conversations with a mentor will have a broader meaning because of their exposure to the challenges facing our society.